Thomas Partey will miss the next few matches - Mikel Arteta

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has dismissed claims that they rushed midfielder Thomas Partey that is why he is injured again.

He has however confirmed the Ghanaian midfielder will “miss the next few matches” and does not know exactly when the player will return to action.

The midfielder returned to the Arsenal line up for their crunch game against North London rivals Tottenham Hotspurs for the first time since getting injured on November 8 but did not complete the game when he suffered an injury on the stroke of half time.

Partey suffered a thigh injury in their game against Tottenham Hotspurs after suffering a similar injury against Aston Villa.

Arteta has now confirmed Partey will be missing for the Gunners’ next few games, including Thursday’s Europa League game in Dundalk, but he has rejected suggestions he rushed him back to play Spurs.

“He got injured in the same area. Not exactly the same spot, but similar as it was before,” said Arteta.

“We MRI [scanned] him yesterday. There was an injury there and he will miss the next few matches.

“He did incredibly well [in training before Tottenham]. He was very confident.

"We tested him three times. He had zero symptoms about it.

“But in football you have a lot of unpredictable actions and he went into the floor, his knee got stuck.

“After he needs to stretch and get up. Immediately he put a lot of stress in a similar area and he felt it again.

"After it was said it was a bit too early, I don’t think it was because he was completely fine to play.”he said.